My favorite childhood toys were "wood projects" and "movie records."Most young people here do not know what these were.

For well under a dollar, the local five cent and dime would wood provide a sheet of balsa or pine wood, a one page plan, and a carbon paper. Using the carbon paper, you would trace the plan onto the sheet of wood, cut or whittle it out, sand it, glue it together and paint it. You could make all kinds of things. Girls, who were into this more than boys, usually made dolls, doll houses, and doll furniture. Boys made airplanes, cars, boats, and wild animals.

When hula hoops came out in the 50's I had a yellow one. It was cool. We also enjoyed homemade wooden rifles that shot rubberbands with a clothespin trigger. Had a farm set with rubber animals made like the army men, would bunch up a throw rug for a mountain and play for hours. Until my sister would raid the farm with her Fort Apache set.

I think so. Kids spend SO much time with toys that are specific, computers, PS3, and TV that they loose the imaginaion....that spark of magic from making their own play world. My kids have toys, but spend most of their free time playing in the weeds and dirt in the back yard....making their own games, painting, building mud wallows, mud huts, rock fortresses, war games(yes my kids play good guy/ bad guy, cops & robbers, cowboy/girl & indians) wonder around making salad from the herb garden...and actually eat them(parsley, mint, rosemary, basil, chives) making pretend fires(think camp fire set up which we do a lot in winter) and make science experiments which is HUGE at our house!My daughter broke our tv and dvd/vcr player a few years ago and we never got around to fixing them or replacing them so they watch very little.Our home is cluttered/messy but it's where all the kids around here want to be:)